


Anomalies

by speedyvibraniumdevil



Series: Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier [6]
Category: Avengers, Bucky Barnes - Fandom, Captain America, MCU, Marvel, The Gifted - Fandom, White Wolf, Winter Soldier - Fandom, X-Men
Genre: Angst, Blood, Cussing, F/M, Guns, Latina Reader, Light Choking, Loosely based off of The Gifted, Mexican Character, Mexican reader, Mutant Powers, Nightmares, Sarcasm, Smut, Spanish phrases, Violence, Wounds, bucky smut, mutant!reader
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-21
Updated: 2018-07-21
Packaged: 2019-06-14 04:17:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 19,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15380472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/speedyvibraniumdevil/pseuds/speedyvibraniumdevil
Summary: You and Bucky both have complicated pasts, but under very different circumstances. While he was on a solo mission and you were in dire need of help, the two of you crossed paths. Neither of you thought you’d see the other again…until the universe threw you into the worst situation of your life. In your time of need, you looked to the former Winter Soldier and his team to help you out. But your past experiences have taught you to be distrusting.





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> No smut in this part, but will happen in one of the future chapters.

**Los Angeles - One year ago**

Bucky rested his arms against the mahogany wood of the bar, and a tumbler full of amber whiskey sat between his hands. He moved the liquid around mindlessly as his eyes watched it slosh back and forth.

He was lost in thought, but still, he kept his ears perked up for any change in sound. There was the clinking of glasses as the bartender laid them out for two people, followed by the sound of alcohol being poured into them. Pool balls clacked together as they were hit back and forth by pool cues. There was chatter from the few people that were actually in the bar on a Thursday night, but they were all conversations that meant nothing to Bucky. All of it bled into each other with the sound of Spanish rock music on the stereo in the background.

Keeping his senses alert at all times was permanently etched into Bucky’s being and it seemed to him that not even Shuri could wipe that from his mind. Maybe it was for the best, it did come in handy after all, especially on missions. Thankfully, she was able to take out what she promised she would and that was the best goddamn blessing he could have hoped for.

Now, he was out of Wakanda and sent back into the arms of the Avengers with a new arm and a new brain. Even Steve, Nat, and Sam had come out of hiding to rejoin the Avengers. Of course, not without some compromises, negotiations, and major apologies. It wasn’t easy by any means, but a year of being apart has seemed to be enough for Tony Stark to at least consider it.

Bucky didn’t blame him for his reluctance, especially when it came to himself. He did kill a lot of people in his time as the Winter Soldier, and within those people were Tony’s parents. Even if everyone kept saying that it was the Winter Soldier’s doing and not his, he still remembered all of it. He regretted it all, and accepted the blame. It happened and now he was willing to move on, and so was Stark. Or at least it looked that way to Bucky. After a one on one meeting with him where he was sure it was going to end into a fight, Tony had welcomed him to the Avengers.

It was still an odd thing to be considered a superhero after the past 70 years. It always seemed like Steve’s thing, with the whole Captain America persona, and now Nomad. But still, Bucky took it in stride. This was his road to redemption.

Which, in part, was why he was currently on the other side of the country at the moment.

Bucky was on a solo mission in Los Angeles, following a lead in regards to a new drug that was supposedly being made that could or could not be a version of the super soldier serum. Being that it was up his alley, he took the mission and was quite literally dropped here on one of the jets. Steve had offered to come, but Bucky thought it better to go in on his own. However, to his disgruntled dismay, the lead come up empty.

And now Bucky was sitting in a bar near East LA, enjoying the rest of his time in a city he had never been to before.

He still wasn’t sure how he felt about Los Angeles. He liked New York better, of course, he was a proud New Yorker through and through. Although Bucky really liked the array of Mexican food in LA. Where there were hotdog, pretzel, and bagel vendors in New York, there were taco trucks, fruit stands, and “eloteros” in Los Angeles. As a man who basically lived off of street food, Bucky approved.

It might not have been a particularly eventful mission, but it was something. Although he would have liked some kind of a fight or excitement. But he was heading back home without an ounce of that. If Steve was here he would have called him crazy, but Bucky always was more trigger happy that Steve ever was.

Bucky downed the whiskey and asked for another drink. Just as the bartender reached for the bottle of Jack Daniel’s, the door to the bar creaked open. The large brunette’s head turned immediately to see who had walked through the door and his brow furrowed at the sight.

It was a girl - a young woman, all by herself. She was very attractive with golden skin and dark hair, and she was dressed plainly: a white t-shirt, jean shorts, and sneakers, but no other belongings. But that wasn’t what caught Bucky’s eye. What stood out to him was her expression and the state she seemed to be in.

Her eyes were wide, full of fear and they were scanning the entire bar for something - or someone. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly. Had she been running? Or was she having a panic attack? She hugged her arms around herself as she continued to search faces in the room until her eyes found Bucky’s.

She looked surprised to find him looking back at her, and Bucky felt like he saw something else there…maybe…recognition? He doubted it. So far very few people had recognized him all the way over here. It was more common in the east coast. Not to mention that he kept his recognizable vibranium arm covered up for the sake of staying disguised.

Her fear seemed to dissipate and she tore her eyes from him before straightening up. He could see her visibly put up a facade before taking a deep breath and heading further into the bar towards the bathroom. Bucky turned his attention back forward, to his drink.

What was that about?

Bucky brushed it off and took is as nothing. There were always weird people in New York, it would come as no surprise if it was the same in LA. He should be heading back to his hotel room anyway.

He finished his drink, paid the bartender, and headed for the door. When he opened it and stepped through the doorway, there was a man in a suit on the other side. Bucky held the door for him, unfazed, until he saw the trail of three other suits following in behind. One of then stayed behind to stand by the door.

_Okay…that’s weird, right?_

* * *

_Fuck, fuck, **fuck**._

You stood in front of the sink in the dimly lit bathroom of the bar. You had managed to calm yourself down enough now that you were able to lose them. But you knew that it wouldn’t be long before they found you. Sentinel Services.

_FUCK. CHINGADA MADRE._

If you had only been more careful. You should have known better than to try and empty out that ATM on a whim. You should have known that you couldn’t do that twice in the same city. They were expecting it. They were waiting. You should have just gotten the groceries and left. Instead you were found, making you have to drop your things all together and leave your car behind, before making a run for it. The first place you found was the bar and you were lucky that no agents were in there. Just a bunch of lowlifes on a Thursday night, and that man.

….That man. The man you had just seen sitting at the bar. You had recognized him. You had seen him somewhere, right? Where had you seen him before?

You shook your head. That doesn’t matter now. What matters is how you’re gonna get home with no car, no money, and no groceries.

_Fuck, Ana’s gonna be so disappointed._

There was a rise in the amount of voices that came from out in the bar. Even though you were practically dead silent, you willed yourself to get even more quiet. You pressed yourself against the door and listened intently. There was a male and female voice and your body tensed. You recognized them, they were a pair that had been yelling at you not 10 minutes earlier. After a few more seconds of listening, you heard your name and that was enough to make your heart rate spike.

It was them. They were here. They were going to find you and they were going to kill you, or worse, they were going to send you to the raft. An underwater prison for enhanced people.

_No, Y/N. Use your head, that stubborn head. Use your powers._

You took a deep breath and looked up. A large smile spread across your face when you saw the small window up above.

Maybe you didn’t have to use them after all. Not yet.

* * *

Bucky glanced back at the bar as he stalked over to his motorcycle that was parked next to the cracked sidewalk. He just couldn’t wrap his head around it. First there was the scared girl and then there was the large group of men in suits. Was there a connection?

Bucky wasn’t sure if he should dwell on it. Maybe it was just a group of businessmen going out for drinks. But no, all of his instincts were saying otherwise. One of them had stayed outside and he wasn’t even smoking or talking on the phone. He was just standing there.

He was standing guard…but for what?

Bucky swung his leg over the bike and sat on it for a while without actually turning anything on. His gut was telling him to wait, to see if something went wrong. After all, things always ended in a fight.

Just when he thought he was wrong, and he turned back around, he heard it. There was the sound of glass breaking, footsteps, and then panting.

“She’s over here!” a male voice cried.

Bucky turned around just in time to see the very same girl send a bolt of electricity at the man standing guard, who had his gun trained on her. Bucky watched in shock as he crumpled to the floor with a series of convulsions. It took a second for him to snap out of it and realize that the girl was running full force at Bucky. He stood up from his bike and clenched his left fist, ready to fight her off if he had to, but he stopped himself when he saw the desperation in her eyes.

“Get me out of here right now! Please!”

Without asking, she climbed on the back of his bike. Another thing he didn’t expect at all.

“ What? What the hell? Get off of my bike, I’m not a fucking taxi.”

“If you don’t gun it right now they’ll kill me! And you too!”

The other men were running out of the bar now with their guns raised. Bucky would like to see them try.

“Stop right there!” one of them yelled.

“And why shouldn’t I let them?” he asked, full of suspicion.

“Because I’m not the bad guy!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Choosing to listen to this girl, Bucky sat back down and revved up the engine of his bike. The girl threw another hit at them with her sparks and then continued to wrap her arms around his waist for support. Bucky tensed at her sudden touch. Gunshots were fired and he felt a bullet whiz by.

“Any day!” she yelled as Bucky floored it on his bike.

She tightened her grip on him and he could feel her face against his back. He glanced down at her hands clasped together at his waist. His mind was in a fucking whirlwind, but he had no chance to dwell on it, because a second later she yelled, “They’re following us!”

Bucky bottled up his bewilderment and traded it for focus and determination. He had ridden this bike many times and had outrun plenty of people on it before. Whoever these people were, he was sure they would be no exception.

“Not for long,” he said before punching it at full speed down the road.

* * *

After an eternity of being chased, Bucky turned the bike sharply into an empty alleyway, turned it off, and waited. Both he and the girl sitting sitting behind him were completely silent. The only sound he could hear was her breathing and the screeching of tires as the SUV that was following them passed by.

They sat there for what felt like forever, and it wasn’t until Bucky felt that the coast was clear that he got off of his bike. No longer was he in getaway mode. Being shot at and forced to get into a chase was enough to get him pissed, and now he was full of questions. And the last thing he needed was for this girl to start ordering him around again.

“I need you to take me to the Knights Inn,” she demanded.

He shook his head at her, “No. What you need to do, is tell me what the fuck that was about.”

“That doesn’t matter now. It’s none of your business, anyway.”

Bucky scoffed and got closer to the girl, menacingly. He normally wouldn’t hit girls, not normal ones or ones outside of the training room. But she was enhanced, dangerous, and he wasn’t afraid to get into it with her if he had too. She couldn’t be more powerful than Wanda Maximoff.

“You walked into the bar that I was in. I saw you fry two guys with lightning that shot out of your hands five minutes ago, and then you jumped onto my bike demanding that I get into a high speed chase with men who wanted to kill you. And now they probably want to kill me. I think it’s my business whether you like it or not.”

She maintained her ground and glared at him. Sparks danced around the fingers of her right hand, like a threat. Bucky didn’t flinch.

“Listen, I don’t have to explain anything to you, okay? You’re just some random guy that I happened to get a ride from, and I’m not afraid to turn you into barbecued beef. Understand? Now, either you get me to the Knight’s Inn or I’ll take your precious bike there and char it to bits when I’m done!”

Bucky was getting pissed off and her tone was making it worse. There were a few people that managed to get under his skin and within a matter of minutes she had made her way to the top of that list.

“Look, I’m not taking your ass anywhere until you tell me who you are and what the fuck is going on.”

Bucky backed her up against the wall and her eyes flashed with a twinge of fear. He saw something switch in her and within a second her hand flew to his left arm. With gritted teeth, she send a wave of electricity up his arm. He could see it leave her fingers in jagged lines of blue. Little did she know that that arm was created in the lab of Wakanda by one of the greatest minds he had ever known. So the sparks only jolted him a little, it was a faint sting, but the rest was absorbed into the metal.

Her eyes widened when she realized that her abilities didn’t have the usual affect that they had. She had taken down those other guys like it was nothing, but not Bucky. Even without the arm, he was sure  that the super serum would be enough to give him an advantage over anyone else.

He could see the real fear in her expression as she pulled her hand away from him. The blue fabric of his jacket was charred at the sleeve, giving a peek at the dark metal through a gaping hole.

They stared at each other, Bucky very unamused. “Wrong arm,” he said before grabbing both of her wrists aggressively in his metal arm.

“The Winter Soldier,” she whispered. She tried tugging her hands free from him, but failed. Bucky was much stronger. “Are you gonna kill me?”

He winced at the name and the insinuation.

“I don’t go by that name anymore and if you kept up with the news, then you’d know I definitely don’t kill for a living either.”

“Access to the news is a luxury when you’re in my situation.”

“And what situation is that?” he prodded.

She shrugged, “Homeless, on the run, constantly being chased by angry men. Take your pick.”

“Why are you on the run? Is it because you emptied out two ATMs?”

She snorted, “That’s just the tip of the iceberg. They’ve been chasing me way longer than that.”

“Why?” Bucky was getting impatient. “Because of what you are?”

She furrowed her brow at him, disbelievingly. “You can say it, you know. I’m a mutant,” she said finally.

Bucky pulled his head back in surprise. He had only ever heard of mutants before and with all of the craziness that happened between the Avengers and being cooped up in Wakanda, he had never actually met one. They were enhanced individuals like Wanda or Pietro, but unlike the twins, they were born with their powers. It was some kind of mutation in the genetic code (hence ‘mutant’). Now, he was standing in front of one.

Seeing this in his eyes, Y/N added, “I’m guessing you’ve never met one before.”

“I’ve been busy,” he said. “And those men…they wanted to kill you because of what you are?”

“Yeah. Sentinel Services. It started off with the cops, but then they decided that they needed a special sector to deal with mutants. At first it was just mutants who were criminals that they would bring in, but now they’re taking anyone with any stupid excuse and shipping them off to the raft.”

“Is that even legal?”

“Does it matter? It’s never stopped them from doing shit like this before.”

He could see it in her eyes, the years of struggle, of having to deal with all of this. She was younger than him and she had already seen things that nobody should have to. Funny how that reminded him of quite a few people.

She looked down at her wrists and back up at him. “What are you gonna do with me?”

To his dismay, he was still holding onto her wrists. But he had no reasons to do it anymore. He had gotten the answers that he asked for, or at least some of them. There was still so much that he wished he could ask, but he rather not push it.

So he let go of her and stepped back. “Nothing. You’re not a threat to me.”

She rubbed her wrists and looked at him in surprise. “I’m not?”

He shook his head, “No.”

She straightened up again, regaining her confidence and inner strength. “Then you need to take me to the Knight’s Inn, please. I promise I won’t ask for anything else.”

“What the hell is at the Knight’s Inn?”

She sighed, “It’s not a what, but a whom.”

* * *

Bucky. That was his real name, the one he gave you before leaving the alleway. It was  much friendlier and fitting than “The Winter Soldier”. Even though he looked every last bit like one.

When you pulled up to the Knight’s Inn on the back of his bike, you immediately hopped off and ran to room 101 on the first floor of the motel. When you reached the door, you made sure to do the secret knock: once, then three times, then three times again.

You heard shuffling on the other side and then the sound of the door being unlocked hastily. When it swung open, you breathed a heavy sigh. Familiar green eyes and brown curly hair greeted you. Ana.

“Finally!” she exclaimed before throwing her arms around you.

You squeezed her tight, taking in her warmth and the smell of coconut shampoo that she used. You fought back tears, because despite the day that you had and the fear of being separated forever, you had to remain strong. You were just happy to see her happy face once again. This time was definitely a close one.

When you pulled back, you both examined each other’s faces. It was a habit that you did now, whenever you were apart. Whether it was to commit each other to memory or to check for cuts and bruises.

“What took you so long?” she basically scolded you.

Even though she was 13 and you were much older than her, she still spoke to you like a worried mother. But you took it since you did the same to her.

“I got caught up.”

She searched you, clearly looking for something that was supposed to be there but wasn’t.

“Where are the groceries?” she asked.

“I…I had to leave them behind,” you stuttered. You couldn’t help but feel like a failure, you had one job after all.

She got serious, knowing what that meant. “Sentinel Services?”

You nodded somberly. She bit her lip nervously, the fear very clear in her eyes. She didn’t hide it as well as you did. She wore her emotions on her sleeve more often than not.

“At least you’re safe….”

You smiled at her and accepted yet another hug that she offered. She always managed to look on the bright side of things even when you were prone to being a cynic.

She pulled back and reluctantly added, “I had to leave the car behind too. It was too recognizable.”

She frowned, “How did you get back here then? What even happe-”

She stopped immediately when something over your shoulder caught her eye. Her features darkened and she clenched her fist at her side.

“They followed you,” she whispered sharply.

Your heart dropped, but when you looked behind your shoulder all you saw was Bucky He was still here, standing by in the shadows. You relaxed, but Ana didn’t.

She pushed you aside and the earth started to crack in a jagged line leading up to Bucky. You grabbed her by the back of her shirt before she could launch herself at the Winter Soldier.

“Ana, no!”

A root came up from the ground and started to wrap itself around Bucky’s ankle, and he cursed. He pulled out a knife from his pocket and started hacking away at it.

“Ana, stop!”

You groaned in exasperation and resorted to putting your hands on her shoulders and sending a small shock through her, like a taser. She yelped and you covered her mouth to keep her from making too much noise. The earth stopped cracking and the root went slack. Bucky looked bewildered.

“He’s a friend,” you whispered to Ana, “He helped me escape the sentinels.”

She stilled and your felt her relax beneath your hands. You let her go and let out a deep breath.

“How many of you are there?” he asked.

“Just us,” you said.

He stepped closer into the light of the narrow walkway. For the first time you noticed his eyes. They were blue, an icy and pale shade. Fitting for a man that was once named after Winter. Those eyes went between the two of you and despite your reluctance, you knew you had to explain her.

“Bucky, this is my sister, Ana. Ana, this is Bucky.”

He raised his eyebrows in surprise. “Sister?”

You nodded.

“Sorry about that, Bucky. I thought were were someone else,” Ana said bit her lip nervously.

“Clearly.” He shook his head at her, “Don’t worry about it. Not everyone can say they got attacked by a tree.”

This prompted a giggle from Ana.

Bucky cleared his throat, “Is getting attacked just a thing I should expect when meeting mutants or is this a thing that runs in the family?”

“I guess you could say we’re very protective of one another,” you said.

He nodded. Some kind of memory that you couldn’t see seemed to pass before his eyes

“I know what that’s like,” he said.

Right. He was friends with Captain America. Didn’t they grow up together?

He looked at you with a thoughtful look, like he was studying you, trying to see through you, but it wasn’t in the same way most people looked at you. Most people looked at you like you were a freak, especially when they found out you were a mutant.

“So, it’s just the two of you,” he started. “You don’t have parents? What happened to them?”

Your mood dropped at the mention of them, as if it wasn’t already close to the floor. You only ever talked about the subject with your sister and no one else. With other people it was a hit or miss topic.

Ana took it upon herself to answer.

“They were deported a long time ago…back to Mexico with the rest of our family.”

He looked surprised.

“So your sister became your guardian after that?”

You answered this time. “Not exactly.”

He crossed his arms, “What does that mean?”

You mimicked his stance defensively. “You’re asking a lot of questions, aren’t you? I thought you were done with that.”

“I’m just trying to understand…”

Why? You wanted to ask. But before you could get the question out, Ana put her arm on your shoulder. With her big green eyes, she told you to be nice, to calm down. She was already starting to like Bucky, and you could tell. It wasn’t every day that someone was this nice to either of you.

You sighed, “I already had my powers by then, so my aunt and uncle took her in. They said that they didn’t want a thing like me taking care of her.”

The words spit out of you with malice.

You thought about it. About your aunt and uncle and the rest of the relatives that still lived on the west coast. All of the people you used to see at parties when you were younger. All of the fun you used to have only to be worth nothing in the end.

You shoved them away in a mental box, because it hurt to think about too long.

“Little did they know that the mutant gene runs in the family,” you continued with a sarcastic laugh, “When they found out that Ana was like me, they threatened to call the authorities…so I took her, and we’ve been running ever since.”

It was the best decision - the only decision - you could have made. Did it mean that it was the easiest? No. It meant moments where you weren’t sure if you would have anything to eat the next day. It meant scrounging for change to get a bottle of water. It meant stealing. It meant getting chased. It meant never knowing your chances of survival or whether or not you’d see each other for the last time. But it was what you had to deal with for the time being.

You suddenly became very aware of your vulnerability. You weren’t used to telling your life story to some stranger, especially not a stranger you just met that day. You were thankful to Bucky for saving your ass, but you were done talking. He didn’t need to know anything more, and you definitely didn’t need Ana to get attached to someone that she was never going to see again.

“Look…thanks for everything, but I think that’s enough questions from you.” you might have come off a little harsh, but something told you that it wouldn’t hurt him.

You looked to your sister and sternly said, “Go inside, I’ll meet you there in a bit.”

“What?”

“Dije que te vayas pa’ ‘dentro,” you repeated in Spanish.

“Pero por que?”

“Porque no necesitas que estar aqui. Esto es entre el y yo,” you ordered sternly.

_This is between me and him._

She flared her nostrils at you, but did as you told her. Although by the glare that she shot at you, you could tell that she wanted to use her powers on you.

Her demeanor changed when she looked at Bucky. She smiled at him and said, “It was nice to meet you Bucky. And thank you for bringing back my sister. I’m sure that she didn’t make it easy.”

Bucky chuckled and you rolled your eyes.

“It was nice to meet you too, Ana. Take care of yourself and your sister.”

She nodded before heading back into the room and closing the door behind her. The smile from Bucky’s face faded when he looked back at you. You weren’t sure whether to be offended by it or not. Then again, you weren’t exactly the easiest person to deal with.

“She seems like a great kid,” Bucky’s voice still managed to sound rough even when he spoke softly.

“She is,” you managed a small smile.

There was a moment’s silence. In the distance you could see the skyline of downtown Los Angeles. A police siren could be heard far away. The night air was cold, but at this point you were used to it.

“What are you gonna do now?” Bucky asked.

You raised an eyebrow at him. “I said no more questions, didn’t I?”

“I’m no stranger to breaking rules I don’t like.”

You glared at him, but managed a friendly smirk, “That makes two of us.”

He grinned back at you and for once it seemed nice to be in his presence.

You kept talking despite the fact that you saw him open his mouth to speak. “You should go. You probably have superhero business and whatnot. Ana and I need to get some sleep because tomorrow we’re getting the hell out of this state. We probably don’t have long before they find us, so we have to get money, food, a car-.”

The weight of your dilemma hit you like a ton of bricks. You had, by no means, a way to get any of that, not when you royally fucked up by trying to short out an ATM. Not when any wrong move could mean yours or Ana’s life. You had no money, no car, no food, and there was no way you’d have it before you were in cuffs and on our way to the raft.

You felt the tears start to well up and you closed your eyes to keep them from spilling over. You rubbed your face with your hands, letting out a groan of frustration as you did so.

“Y/N?” Bucky sounded concerned.

“Ugh, I’m so fucked,” you whimpered.

“Hey…” his took on a soothing tone.

His hand came down on your shoulder, meant for reassurance, but you instinctively flinched away from his touch. You regretted it, but didn’t move to get any closer to him again.

Still you apologized, “Sorry, I just…”

“It’s okay. I get it.”

And you could tell by the expression on his face and the look in his eyes, that he did get it. It was enough to make you feel less like shit. He opened his mouth to speak, closed it, and repeated it a few more times. The gears in his mind were working and he was trying to figure out what to say. You wanted to yell at him to spit it out.

“Look, you may or may not be aware of this,” he finally said, “but I got some connections with a team of superheroes. If you want…I can take you guys in…give you a place to stay for the time being.”

This was the last thing you had ever expected. You were taken aback by his offer, genuinely, truly. Any normal person would have felt excitement, but instead, you felt dread. You shook your head vigorously. That wasn’t what you wanted.

“No, no, no. Thank you, but…we’re not superheroes. We don’t want to be Avengers. We could never…”

He chuckled, “I’m not saying you have to be Avengers, I’m offering you a place to stay.”

“And we’ll find one,” you said stubbornly, “We will, we always do. Just…not there.”

“Why not?”

“Because…” there was a valid reason, you just didn’t want to get into it. “We just have to figure things out before we go back home.”

“Home?”

You bit your lip, contemplating on whether or not to tell Bucky where exactly it was you were heading. You figured that he wouldn’t tell anyone.

“Mexico. We’re hoping to survive long  enough and get enough resources to cross the border. We figured if we were going to be anywhere, it would be with our parents.”

You could see the understanding in his eyes. The plates of his metal arm shifted as he flexed both arms. He was thinking, maybe trying to find some kind of way to convince you to go with him, but you were ready with a response.

You didn’t want to join his boy band of heroes. That wasn’t what you were, that wasn’t what you did, and Ana was too young to understand the consequences of a life like that. Even if Bucky said that it wasn’t his intention, you knew that you’d get roped up with the Avengers anyway. If you were going to live your life, you were going to lead it the way you wanted. You had a plan, there was a setback, but you were going to follow it.

“I promised Ana I would take her to see her parents,” you added with conviction, “and I’m going to do that.”

That entire time Bucky watched you and you weren’t sure how to feel about it. There was something about him that made you not hate him 100% like other men you had met. From the second that you saw him at the bar, you knew there was something about him. It was like he could see past every wall of solid steel that you had up and he did it without trying to punch his way through. It was subtle. And it was unfair. He had those walls too, but he was much better at keeping them up. You envied it.

Bucky sighed and dug into his back pocket. You furrowed your brow, wondering if he was going to take out another knife or a gun. Instead, he took out a wallet. He stuck his fingers in the pocket and pulled out a huge wad of bills before jutting them in your direction.

“Here.”

Your eyes widened in shock. He was offering you money? All of that money? And by the looks of it, it was a significant amount.

“What?” you scoffed out.

“Take it. You need it, I don’t. If you’re not gonna let me give you a place to stay, at least let me help you in some way.”

You were completely flabbergasted. When you jumped on the back of what you thought was a random man’s motorcycle, it was with the intention of never uttering more than a few words to him. But he turned out to be none other than the Winter Soldier, a man that was supposed to be out of nightmares. Instead, he’s been the complete opposite. Not only has Bucky saved your life, he also brought you back to you sister, and now…he was giving you the funds you needed. You weren’t sure what you did to deserve it considering that you’ve been an asshole to him the majority of the time.

“You keep this much cash on hand?” you asked.

He shrugged, “It’s a force of habit. The best way to keep a low profile is to not leave a paper trail, which means everything is paid in cash.”

You nodded, taking the advice.

“Take it,” he said again, shaking the bills lightly, “and don’t go and say that you don’t need it, because we both know you do.”

You resisted the urge to make a snarky comment and took the bills from his hand without a protest. For once, you were nearly speechless. You skimmed through the bills and based on what you saw, there was over $400. More than enough to get you back up and running (literally and figuratively).

“Bucky…” you started to say as you stared at the wad in your hands, “I…..”

“Try not to keep it all in one place. Keep it safe, hidden…”

He looked past you, distracted by something. When you followed his line of sight you shook your head in disapproval. Ana was staring out the window, watching.

“You should probably take these,” Bucky’s voice brought you back to him.

His hand was out to you again, but this time it held two steel butterfly knives. You stared at them in awe. With a swift movement of his hand, he took one and flipped it open to reveal the blade inside. With another hand movement, he closed it back up.

When he gave them to you and you didn’t hesitate to take them.

“You do have your powers, but you should keep them as a last resort. Especially if you want to stay hidden.”

You had your go at flipping the knife open and smiled brightly when you succeeded.

“I know it’s not a gun, but knives can do a lot of damage when you know how to use them, and you’ll get into less trouble for owning one. Not to mention that they’re much easier to hide.”

He explained one final thing and you listened to every word. “If you’re planning on getting out of state, take the train. It’s a good way to get a long distance without them finding you. Get everything that you need, buy a ticket and go. Don’t risk stealing a car when they’re expecting it.”

“Why are you doing this?” you finally asked. “Not that I’m complaining…but why?”

His eyes scanned your face and looked back past your shoulder, towards Ana. “I’m just giving help where I wish I would have had it.”

He started to back away, indicating his departure. You were surprised when you felt disappointed. It wasn’t like you expected him to stay. How could he? But he was the first and only person who had given you what you needed the most without you having to ask for it, and he asked for nothing in return.

With a smile, he bid you good bye in his stoic Winter Soldier kind of way. And for a second you thought that that was it. Your rollercoaster of a shitty day had come to an end…but not quite. Bucky stopped halfway to his bike before turning back around and digging through his pocket once again.

“What else could you possibly have in that pocket?” you asked.

He narrowed his eyes at you. There was a pen in his human hand and he was writing on what seemed like a small piece of paper in his metal hand. When he was done scribbling, he handed it to you. When you took it, you realized that it was a business card for Stark Industries. You were confused until you turned it over to reveal that bucky had written his name and number on the back.

“If anything happens, anything that you can’t handle…if things go wrong and you need my help…don’t hesitate to call that number.”

“Thank you, Bucky. I don’t say that to just anyone, so I want you to know that I mean it.”

And you did. The corners of his lips curved into a smile and you couldn’t help but do the same.

He turned back around and walked away, but this time he got on his bike and drove away before glancing back in your direction. He was gone. For good. And maybe it was for the best. You don’t know what you did to deserve the help of Bucky Barnes, but you hoped and prayed that you wouldn’t be needing it again.


	2. The Call

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year after his first mission in Los Angeles, Bucky gets a call from someone he never thought he'd hear from again.

**New York - Present Day**

The garage smelled like sweat and motor oil. It’s what it usually smelled like when Bucky was in there, working on his bike. Music blared on the speakers as he crouched down by the engine with an expression of deep concentration.

It was in times like these that he was grateful for his new haircut. It used to always get in the way and he’d have to tie it up in a bun, but now the long strands had been cropped to a short length at the top of his head. It no longer bothered him on missions or during tasks like this one. And to him, it was the final piece of the Winter Soldier identity that he could get rid of.

Whenever Bucky wasn’t on a mission, training, or attending to the usual Avengers business, he liked to spend some time on his own. Sometimes he’d work out at the gym or let off some steam at the shooting range a few floors down. Other times, he’d leave the tower all together and take on the streets of New York. This time, however, he was tuning up his bike. It was one of his preferred forms of transportation, so he had taken it upon himself to learn how to take care of it.

Music played in the background, and if anyone heard it, they would know when he was there. Steve once joked that he reminded him a lot of Tony, who also liked to blare classic rock when he work on his gadgets.

Whether it was this or any other task, the team knew not to bother him in this time. The only exceptions were emergencies or if your name was Steve Rogers….Or if you were Tony Stark and you didn’t give a shit because the building was yours.

Bucky had been so caught up in his own bubble, that he barely noticed when Tony came in with a plate of sandwiches in one hand. In his other hand, was a piece he had helped himself to.  Bucky only glanced at the Iron Man when he finally noticed him. Kurt Cobain’s voice started to play as Tony settled himself by the motorcycle, and he seemed very content with the sandwich he was eating.

“Nirvana?” Tony asked in between bites.

Bucky nodded, but didn’t take his eyes of the part he was tinkering with.

“Just when I think you can’t get anymore dark and broody, you prove me wrong.”

Tony stuck out the hand that held the plate towards Bucky.

“I brought you some food,” he said plainly.

Bucky looked over at the plate of food and then at the piece of it that Tony was finishing off. He glared at him.

“You decided to bring me food…and you’re eating it?”

“Actually, Pepper told me to bring you food and I just wanted to make sure that it tasted good.”

“And?”

“It tastes delicious,” he then pointed to the food, “Are you sure you’re gonna want all of these?”

Bucky snatched the plate from his hands, maintaining his expression. “You know I eat more food than the average person, Stank.”

Tony sighed, but made no remark towards the nickname. He was the one who gave everyone else crazy nicknames to begin with. It was like karma for him, he knew.

“Right, right. Super serum mumbo jumbo. Large muscles plus fast metabolism equals hulk sized portions of food,” he said.

Bucky stood up and ate his sandwiches over the workbench littered with tools. He half expected Tony to leave, but instead he stood there with his hands in his pockets. He was about to ask him what he wanted when Tony started talking again.

“Have you ever thought about upgrading that thing?” he gestured to the bike.

Bucky furrowed his brow, “You mean a normal upgrade or the unofficial Tony Stark upgrade?”

Tony walked over to the other side of the bench and leaned against it, facing Bucky.

“Normal isn’t in my vocabulary,  so you can assume that I mean the latter.”

“You know I think your tech is great, Tony, but,” Bucky pointed a metal finger at him. “You touch my bike and I’ll maim you.”

Tony rolled his eyes, “Calm down, Barnes, I wouldn’t dream of touching your precious bike. I’d just build you a newer, shinier one.”

Tony grinned smugly and Bucky eyed him with a cocked eyebrow. Tony was and always will be a pain in the ass, but still, the two of them had come a long way since that day in Siberia. It didn’t mean that  stopped surprising Bucky that he even talked to him despite knowing what he did.

“I made Steve the same offer, but he was very adamant about keeping it old school.”

“What makes you think I won’t say the same thing?”

“I heard you like science, so I figured you’d at least consider it. You take that thing on missions all the time. Don’t you think it would be nice if you had a better one?”

Both statements were true. Bucky used to love science and technology back in the 1940s and it still amazed him to this day. Few people knew that information about him. They all assumed his favorite thing was to shoot people. So, yes, the nerdy side of him was very intrigued about this new upgrade that Tony had in mind. He took that thing everywhere and anything that could give him an advantage on a mission is a win in his book.

Bucky sighed, “Fine. But don’t mess with the old one. If you do I’ll-

“Shoot me in both of my egs. Got it,” Tony finished the threat, having heard it plenty of times before.

He turned around and made his way to exit the garage. As he opened the door he called out, “Try listening to Mozart or the Beatles, for once. Maybe it’ll make you less hostile.”

“Fuck you.”

By the time the door closed behind Tony, Bucky was done scarfing down his food. He set the plate on the workbench and crouched down to finish up the work he was doing. The Rolling Stones had just started playing when all of a sudden, his phone started to ring. He frowned, wondering who it could be. Nobody ever really called him on his phone to begin with unless it was someone from the team.

To his dismay, when he looked at the caller ID, it was a strange number. The only indication of who it was from, was the location at the bottom.

_New Orleans, LA._

Who could he possibly know in Louisiana? The only person he could think of was that annoying Gambit guy he met a few missions back, but somehow he doubted that it was him. 

He stared at the number for a few seconds before deciding to ignore it and setting the phone down on the bench. It wouldn’t surprise him if it was a telemarketer.

Once again, he went back to the task at hand. But when a few seconds pass, the phone rang again. It was the same number and same place.

He frowned. Telemarketers didn’t call twice in the span of a minute right? Maybe it was important. He stared at the number again, but this time, he decided to answer it. He tapped the green button and pressed the device to his ear.

“Hello?” His voice was serious and gruff. Bucky wasn’t one to have a happier, more friendly persona when talking on the phone like most people did.

Despite his greeting, there was no response, but Bucky could hear breathing on the other end. Was this a prank?

“Hello? Who is this?” Bucky said as he stood up straight.

After another moment of silence, he went on.

“Lebeau, if this is you, I suggest you speak up before I head over there and beat you with your own stick.”

 At this point, Bucky was ready to hang up, but then a female voice spoke up on the other end.

“Bucky?”

There was strain in her voice. It was shaky and hoarse.

“Who is this?” Bucky repeated the question.

“I want to speak to Bucky Barnes,” she said with a  modicum of confidence before giving away to her shaky voice, “He…he said that I could call this number if I ever needed help, and - and I just - I need to talk to him…just get me Bucky, please.”

She sounded desperate and on the verge of tears. Her voice sounded familiar and he was searching every inch of his mind for who it could be. Who had he met with that voice?

“You’re talking to him,” he said.

“Oh, thank god. For a second I thought you had changed your number,” she sighed in relief, “Bucky…Bucky, it’s Y/N. Remember me?”

It was like the murkiness of the memory was starting to clear up. Y/N..Y/N…

“I’m the mutant you helped escape from the sentinels,” she added.

With that last bit of information, the fog in his mind cleared. It was like he was propelled back in time, to one year ago in Los Angeles. It had been his first mission on the west coast. He had come up empty on a lead, and just when he thought he was going to go home empty handed, he ended up with a snarky lightning girl on the back of his bike. She had a sister and they were both mutants on the run.

The last time they spoke she was yelling at him most of the time. No wonder he couldn’t place her voice now, she was less broken back then.

“Y/N. Yeah, I remember you. You tried to electrocute me and then your sister attacked me with a tree,” he reminisced, “I never thought I’d hear from you again.”

“Trust me, I never thought I’d have to call you until now.”

A year ago, she had put herself in a shitty situation. Bucky had offered her a place to stay, but she had a stubborn plan to get to Mexico which was where her parents lived. He had given her a few things to help her out, and one of those things was his number in case of emergencies.

“And what made you call me now? Did you get yourself into trouble again?”

The last time she had stolen from an ATM. Maybe she did it again?

“No, it’s nothing that I did. It’s worse,” She sniffled on the other end. When she spoke again, it was rapid and shaky. “Look, I need your help, okay? Something terrible just happened and I don’t know what to do. You’re the only one I could think of to do anything. I don’t know - I don’t know - ”

She rambled on about something that Bucky couldn’t catch and he had to put a stop to it.

“Alright, alright, calm down. Remember to breathe, Y/N.”

“Calm down? Don’t tell me to calm down, idiota. I can’t calm down! Don’t you understand?”

Bucky bit back a groan of frustration. This sounded familiar. Seems like her ability to explain things was still subpar. Once again, she was making it very difficult for him to be sympathetic. But he was getting worried the more she talked. This definitely sounded more drastic than the last time.

But what could have possibly happened to prompt his phone call? Rather, what happened to prompt her to be this broken?

He took a deep breath, and willed himself to be the calm one in this situation.

“I’ll only understand if you tell me what happened,” he said.

He could hear her take a deep breath.

“They took her.”

“Who? Took who?”

“Ana. They took Ana!”

She sounded angry beside her crying. Bucky’s heart sank. The image of the 13 year old girl with green eyes and curly hair that he had met a year ago flickered before his eyes. She was one of the sweetest kids he had ever met. Powerful, but kind. She had reminded him of Peter or Shuri, or his even own sister, Rebecca. He wouldn’t wish for anything to happen to any of them.

Bucky’s metal hand clutched the edge of the workbench. The weaker metal bent underneath the strength of the vibranium. 

“Who? Who took her?” he asked more urgently. “Was it the sentinels?”

“No. That’s the thing,” she said weakly, “I don’t know.”

Bucky grabbed his jacket from a nearby chair and started walking towards the exit of the garage. There was only one possible thing he could do next and he wasn’t going to waste any time.

“Tell me where you are. I’m coming to get you.”


	3. The Tattoo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the aftermath of your sister's disappearance, you're a mess. Bucky wastes no time in picking you up and taking you to a safe location: the compound. As you retell him - as well as Tony and Steve - everything that happened, you finally find out who the hell took your sister.

The big steel bird that was the quinjet rumbled all around you as it took off into the air. It was where Bucky had taken you into after coming in like a knight in shining leather to pick you up on his motorcycle in the outskirts of New Orleans. Still, you were too numb to have any proper reaction to the the thing that was basically a spaceship.

At some point Bucky had strapped you in before taking the seat in front of you, but, again, you had been too numb to even notice. And you were too numb to even ask about where you were going (even though you had an idea). It was the most quiet you had ever been considering the enormity of the situation. Internally, you were aware of it. You could be screaming and crying, but you had already done enough of the latter before getting on the back of Bucky’s bike once again. Externally, you could tell.

Your cheeks were tear stained and red-rimmed, your hair, which was in a ponytail, was a loose mess, and there were two cuts on your face. One was above your brow and the other was on your bottom lip, and both were bleeding. Every now and then you’d tongue the gash at your lip and wince at the sting while also tasting copper. In your lap, you cradled a mason jar full of seashells.

So much shit had happened in the past 16 hours. And as all the events replayed in your head, you felt like it was all just a nightmare. A hazy bad dream where it felt like you were only watching from afar, and this had happened to someone else. Soon enough you’d be waking up and you’d be back in your motel in Louisiana with your sister sleeping in the other bed. She’d wake up and beg for pancakes form the nearby cafe. She’d be with you. She’d be safe.

But she wasn’t.

And you felt like such a fucking failure for it.

“I’ll make sure they get you cleaned up when we get to the compound,” Bucky’s voice rumbled against your thoughts.

Your eyes lazily flitted to him. He was motioning to the cuts on your face and you nodded. The physical cuts were nothing compared to what you felt inside, so it wasn’t at the top of your list of things to worry about. It took you a second to process the other part of his sentence. You furrowed your brow.

“The compound? Is it that big skyscraper they show on the news?” you asked, but your voice was smaller than usual.

“No, that’s the tower. The compound is the other Avengers headquarters, but more hidden. You’ll be safe there.”

You nodded again. It was the only action you could will yourself to do, aside from letting your eyes dance around the quinjet. Occasionally you’d look at Bucky.

He looked just about the same from when you last saw him, except his hair was shorter now and his beard was just a shadow of stubble. You couldn’t help but feel like it suited him, and if this were a good day, you would have thought that he looked fairly attractive. However, that was the farthest thing from your mind at the moment.  

If you were honest, you were surprised he had come so fast to your aid. Sure, he had been the one to offer his number in case of emergencies, but a part of you thought he was bullshitting. Or that a whole year of not seeing each other was enough to make him lose interest. But, once again, the Winter Soldier proved you wrong.

You had been sure that you had no chance of getting your sister again. That that was it, she had been ripped away from you and you could do nothing about it. It was a miracle that you had found Bucky’s number, written on the back of a business card, in the inside of your jacket pocket. As soon as you told him what the problem was, he was on his way to your location and just like that he taking you back to his team.

The Avengers. You’d no doubt be meeting them in no time, and you weren’t sure how to feel about it. You weren’t looking to get recruited, that wasn’t what you wanted. All you needed was help, and at this point you could use all that you could get. You had denied Bucky’s help back then, but now, you knew that you’d do anything to get Ana back.

And when you find the pieces of shit that took her, you’d make sure to char them to bits.

You looked down at the jar in your hands and moved it around. Hers. It was full three quarters of the way with seashells, rocks, and sand dollars. Every single one had a memory attached to it, and the mere thought of them made your eyes prickle with tears. You blinked them back and hugged the container closer before resting your head against the seat.

_Please be alive, please be alive, please be alive._

You caught a glimpse of Bucky and saw that he was looking at the jar in your hands. No doubt he wanted to ask you about it, and you hoped he wouldn’t, because you didn’t feel like getting personal and going down memory lane right now. And you most definitely didn’t feel like crying in front of him. That wasn’t what was going to help you.

To your dismay, he asked an even worse question.

“Are you gonna tell me what happened?”

You glanced at him for a second, blue eyes locking with y/e/c, before you looked off towards the front of the jet, out the windshield.

“I’m surprised you waited this long to ask,” you said.

“I was giving you your space.”

“You mean you wanted me calm enough so I wouldn’t bring down the plane in case I got angry and turned green?” you managed to retort.

Bucky opened his mouth to make some kind of remark, but resorted to pursing his lips. You raised an accusatory eyebrow at him.

“Something like that,” he said.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Piensas que soy estupida? I’m not going to take the plane down with my powers, Bucky. Believe it or not, I want to live.”

Bucky snorted.

“What?” you asked defensively.

“There she is,” he said simply, leaning back against his seat.

You rolled your eyes. Suddenly, he got serious again.

“I really am going to need you to tell me what happened, Y/N. Because if you don’t, then I won’t be able to help you. And even if you don’t tell me, Tony’s gonna want to interrogate you.”

You frowned at that. “An interrogation? What am I,  a suspect?”

“No, of course not, but he and everyone else who’s going to get involved are gonna want to know everything that you know. Which means questions. It’s not as bad as it sounds.”

“Are you sure I’m not gonna get shoved into a dark room with a table and shitty desk lamp?”

You pictured every interrogation room you had seen on crime shows and movies. It brought a faint amused smile to Bucky’s lips.

“Yes, I’m sure of it,” he said, “Now, I figured you could tell me everything first, so I can make the rest easier for you.”

You sighed. You didn’t like to admit it, but he was right. If you were going to tell anyone first, you’d rather it be Bucky. In this entire shit show, he was the only one you trusted right now.

You shifted in your seat, sorting through the events in your mind.

You sighed, “Alright.”

* * *

“It was supposed to be a regular day. We were leaving for Alabama, so we decided to grab some snacks for the road trip ahead.  We stopped at a liquor store, and Ana decided to wait in the car, which was parked across the street. I was just going in and out, but when I’m paying at the counter, I hear glass breaking outside and then screaming. When I looked out the window, I saw a group of men, forcing Ana out through car window. I could see her trying to fight them off. My immediate reaction was to think that it was the Sentinels, that they had found us and were showing no mercy. But when I ran outside, I saw that they were dressed differently. I didn’t recognize any of them, and usually it would be the same two agents.”

“I ran and screamed at them to let her go. Part of me wondered: Why wasn’t she using her powers? She could have had them down by now if she did. So, naturally, I used mine. Except when I held out my hand, nothing happened. No sparks. No nothing.”

You held out a palm in front of you and let the electricity in you dance around your fingers, nothing drastic. Then all at once, you stopped. You looked down at your hand and looked at it in bewilderment, just as you had that day.

“I don’t know how, but for the first time in years, my powers didn’t work. All of a sudden, Ana screamed out for me. They were dragging her to an SUV, so I took out the butterfly knife that you gave me and I charged towards them, ready to tear them apart however I could. But they were much bigger and stronger than I was.”

“There was one guy in particular,” you scowled the memory. “This guy with an accent who had tattoos up and down his arms. When I tried to stab him, he grabbed my wrist and twisted my arm. I kicked out and punched and scratched at him. I did everything I could to fight him. I even tried using my powers again, but all he did was laugh. Then the asshole slapped me in the face and I fell to the floor. That’s how I got these.”

You pointed to the cut on your lip. Bucky’s face was grim as you spoke, but he made no comments and asked no questions. He just listened intently and clung to your every detail.

“When I tried lunging at him again, he kicked me in the face,” you motioned to the gash on brow bone. “That one hurt like a bitch.”

“Then one of the other guys said something that I can’t get out of  my head.”

For the first time, Bucky spoke. “What did he say?”

You looked him dead in the eyes and repeated the words to him, “‘Don’t break the merchandise’.”

Bucky’s face went into a scowl, “What happened next.”

“The large bastard with tattoos grabs me and starts dragging me towards the SUV. At this point I don’t hear Ana anymore and I makes me think that they must have drugged her or something. I lost my knife, I had no powers, and I could barely fight because my head felt like it was going to explode. I felt useless. But then….”

“Then?”

“Then I heard police sirens getting closer and closer. The guys started to panic. The other guy said, ‘Just drop her, we only lead the little one. Let them deal with her’ and by ‘they’ he probably meant sentinel services. Before I knew it, I was on the street, bleeding and they had taken Ana.”

“When I got up, my powers came back again. I blew out every street lamp when I realized she was gone and practically incinerated a car. I know it was stupid to do that, but I just….”

You put your head in your hands and groaned.

You snapped your head back up to finish the story, “After that the cops arrived in no time and I ran. I got into the car and drove off to my crummy motel. I figured they’d find me and this time I’d get sent to the raft for sure. But that was when I found your number and that was when I called you. It’s funny how you popped up again just when I needed help.”

You threw Bucky a thankful look.

“The rest is history.”

The both of you sat in silence for a moment. You could tell Bucky was thinking and going over what you just told him.  

“So, they weren’t the sentinels?”

You shook your head, “No. These guys were different. Less formal, more brutal. The sentinels are basically overpowered FBI agents. These guys seemed like-”

“Mercenaries.”

You nodded.

“Is there anything that you saw or heard that could give you any idea of who hired them or who they could be?”

“No. It’s not like they were wearing uniforms. They were dressed in all black, that’s it. The SUV had no plates. Some of them spoke in a different language.”

“Do you know what language it could be?”

You shrugged, “I don’t know. German, Bulgarian, Russian?”

Bucky leaned over and rested his elbows on his knees.

“What about-”

“Bucky,” you interrupted, “Don’t you think that if I knew anything, that I would tell you?”

“Look, sometimes out brains skim over things that don’t seem important at the time, okay?” he explained. “Now, the man with the tattoos. Were there any that stood out to you? Any of significance?”

You made yourself go back and remember the man with the tattoos. You had been so focused on fighting him off and getting to Ana, that you didn’t really bother to take a look and analyze the stuff on his arms. But still, for the sake of this mission, you will yourself to focus.

The ones on his arms all merged together into a mixture of faded and new, color and black & white. But no, none of significance. However, there was one that you remembered. One that made your eyes widen when you finally remembered it. It wasn’t on his arms, but on his chest, and you had seen it when you you were pulling at him and ripped part of his shirt.

You looked at Bucky, who was waiting expectantly.

“Yeah, there was one.”

* * *

“Hey, Barnes, I have a quick question,” Tony started innocently.

“Yeah?”

“Is this not the Avengers compound?”

“Yes.”

“And isn’t the Avengers compound supposed to be kept hidden?”

“Yes, Stark,” Bucky said with annoyance, “I thought it was supposed to be one question.”

“Humor me. So that means we keep strangers, who are not the Avengers, out of here, right?”

Bucky huffed, “Yes.”

“Then, please, tell me,” Tony lost all innocence a went into sharp whispers, “Why the hell is there a strange girl on the fucking Avengers compound, Barnes?!”

The brunette super soldier rolled his eyes. “Look, she’s not just some random girl, okay? I wouldn’t have brought her here if she was.”

“Who even gave you the okay to do this?”

“Myself…and Steve.”

“Of course he did,” Tony rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “Care to explain who she is then?”

He motioned towards the large glass observation window that allowed the three of them to see into the medical wing, where you were being tended to by a nurse on a metal table. You had refused to put on the gown they had given you and Bucky had tried his best to convince you that it was just a regular check up, but you wouldn’t give in. Bucky wasn’t sure what it was that you were reluctant about, but he knew better than to push it. You had your own problems, just like he did.

You were staring down at the floor. Bucky could already imagine what you were thinking about, probably replaying the events of the last 18 hours.

“Her name it Y/N,” Bucky started, “I met her a year ago while on a mission in Los Angeles.”

“The L.A. mission? I thought you said it came up empty?” Tony asked.

“It did. She wasn’t part of the mission.”

“Wait, so you’re telling me that you hooked up with some girl over a year ago and you decided to bring her here…why?”

Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose at Tony’s assumptions.

“No, Tony. I didn’t hook up with her. Would you just listen for a goddamn second and let me finish?”

Tony harrumphed, but said nothing more. Bucky stood straighter and crossed his arms.

“Y/N is a mutant,” he said plainly.

He raised his eyebrows and widened his eyes into orbs.

“She’s enhanced? Like the Maximoff twins?”

“Kind of. Except she was born with her abilities.”

“So…she’s here because..what? She wants so join the team?”

Bucky shook his head, “That’s the last thing she wants. What she wants is for us to help her find her sister. She was taken by a group of men on the streets of New Orleans.”

“Find her sister? Barnes, we’re not the NYPD. We don’t deal with missing persons cases,” Tony said in exasperation.

“Do you really think I would be here if it was just some regular persons case?”

“I don’t know. As far as I’m concerned, you just have some kind of attachment to this girl?”

“Goddamn it, Tony. Yes, I promised her we would help, but this is still up our alley. Hre sister is enhanced too and she was taken for Christ’s sake! For who knows what reason!” Bucky calmed down for a second before saying the next few words with a grimace. “But I actually might have an idea why.”

Tony cocked an eyebrow, intrigued, “Why?”

“Because I know who took her, and trust me…you’ll be on the same page as me when you find out.”

“Okay, out with it. Who took her?”

Bucky opened his mouth to say it, but then thought better of it and closed it. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell him, but it was the fact that he didn’t think it should be him to do it. If he was going to convince Tony that your case was real, it had to come from your lips.

He turned his both towards the window and looked across to where you were sitting. The nurse was bandaging up the gash on your forehead. As if sensing his gaze, you looked up, through the glass at Bucky. He could see the emotional and physical exhaustion in your features. When your eyes moved in Tony’s direction, you became more guarded.

“Why don’t I let her tell you?” Bucky said. “But first, we need to call Steve in for this.”

* * *

Bucky and Tony moved into the medical wing, followed by who, due to his long hair and beard, you at first didn’t recognize as Steve Rogers. Apparently they called him in to join them. He wasn’t with them when they were on the other side of the observation window. If you were being honest, it  made you feel like a zoo animal to be looked at through a barrier. Like a sad gorilla.

Tony excused the nurse, who was already done patching you up.

That feeling didn’t go away as the three men lined up in front of you. The glass was gone, but there was still that weird feeling of scrutiny. You knew this was coming. Bucky had warned you about an interrogation, but you didn’t expect it to be so soon and you didn’t expect there to be another person present. You straighten your back and clenched your draw your give yourself a modicum of confidence in the presence of superheroes.

You crossed your arms protectively over your chest. On the far left, Bucky gave you a reassuring nod.

“Hi, there. My name is Tony Stark,” Tony introduced himself first.

“I’m Steve Rogers,” the blonde held out his hand for you to take it, but all you did was glance at it as if it was a foreign object.

“I know who you are,” you said as your eyes lazily went from Steve’s face to Tony’s.

Steve retracted his hand and shoved it in his pocket. You expected him to look hurt, but he didn’t.

Bucky’s counterparts looked wary. They were scanning you with their eyes, as if trying to figure out what’s wrong with you. It was a look you knew all too well. No doubt Bucky had told them that you were a mutant. Had he specified what exactly you could do? Maybe not. Part of you wanted to light this place up and show them what you were made of. You didn’t care how expensive this equipment was, you were sure they had the money to replace it.

Then again, they were your shot at finding the one thing you had to lose, and you couldn’t mess it up. Your stubbornness and anger had ruined things for you in the past, and you can’t let that happen in this case. You just couldn’t stand the uncomfortable ogling.

“I hope you’re here to talk about my missing sister, because having the three of you staring at me is not my idea of a great time,” you snapped.

Steve cleared his throat before straightening up. It was clear that both he and Bucky were soldiers by the way they stood and the way they carried themselves. Your own cousin had served in the Navy, so you could spot a military vet when you saw one.

Tony, on the other hand, didn’t stand like a soldier at all but he still had a confidence to him.  He had the air of someone who owned the place. AKA, a diva. You hadn’t encountered too many male divas like him in real life.

“Barnes told me that you could help us figure out who took your sister,” he said.

Your furrowed your brow and looked at Bucky. “I told you I didn’t know anything.”

“Did you already forget?” he asked.

“What?”

“When you told me about the men who took you sister, you said you noticed something that you didn’t think meant anything, but it did.”

“What was it?” Steve asked.

You thought back to what you told Bucky.

“The tattoo?” you asked.

Bucky nodded. When you had first seen it, you didn’t think too much of the tattoo. Most people in LA had tattoos. Even you had some small ones. The guys usually had tattoos sleeves or even ones that covered their necks. Half of them were usually meaningless, so you just assumed that’s what this one was. But when you told Bucky about it, a weird expression came across his face. It was shock and anger, like he had seen something like it before.

“Describe it to them,” Bucky said.

You thought back to the man who attacked you and tried to take you. There were a few tattoos on his arms, but one of them had stood out to you. The one on his chest.

The image was vivid in your mind as you remembered it.

“It was a circle…and in the middle was a skull that had six tentacles.”  

Bucky looked to the others as if to gauge their reactions. The same look that you had seen on his face in the quinjet, appeared on Steve’s. Tony rested his head in his hands and cursed.

You, on the other hand, were thoroughly confused. What was so important about a skull with tentacles? It irked you that these three obviously shared some kind of history with this symbol and none, especially Bucky, had done you the courtesy of filling you in on what it meant.

“What? What is it? What does it mean?” you asked impatiently.

Your eyes went to Bucky, the only one of them that you remotely knew and trusted to some degree. He looked at you, then shared a sideways glance with Steve, then looked back at you.

At the same time, the both of them uttered a word you had only hears in stories. “Hydra.”

You face fell the instant you heard the words and the blood in your veins turned to ice.

Hydra. Hydra had your sister.

Somehow, this entire situation managed to get way worse than it already was.


	4. Broken Glass

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now, it's Steve and Tony's turn to interrogate you. They pick apart every detail of your story to gather as much information as they can. But you're emotional and angry, and beyond all else - impatient.

It took everything in you not to explode into a crackle of electricity right then and there. Your entire body was buzzing more and more as your anger and fear grew. Tears threatened to spill over from your eyes and you looked down at your feet to keep the three men in front of you from seeing it. Suddenly your ability to breathe became weaker. You gripped the edge of the metal table and for a second you wished that you had Bucky’s vibranium arm so you could crush it.

“Hydra,” the word came out a ragged whisper.

You might not have recognized the symbol, but you recognized the name in an instant. Everyone knew about Hydra, and those who didn’t were probably living under a rock. They were nazis back in the second World War, and were responsible for torturing Bucky and creating the Winter Soldier, as well as conducting other heinous acts. They’ve killed more people than you could count and have a sick view on how the world should be. For some god awful reason they were still alive and thriving in this world, ready to fuck up people’s lives. Including your own.

And they were the people that had you sister. Your beautiful, precious sister.

The lights in the room flickered. You sensed Bucky take a step towards you. Whether to comfort you or contain what could happen, you weren’t sure, but you held up a hand to him without looking up.

“Don’t,” you fought back the tears and took and deep breath before tilting your head back up to look at all three of them. They all had varying looks of sympathy and discomfort.

“Why?” you asked, or rather, demanded an answer. “Why would they take her?”

“Why does Hydra do anything that they do?” Steve said.

“Because they’re sick fucks, that’s why,” Bucky rumbled.

“Indeed,” Tony said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they took an interest in your sister’s powers. I mean, it can’t be a coincidence that she’s a mutant.”

“Nothing’s ever a coincidence with them,” Bucky said bitterly.

“Is she powerful? Your sister?” Steve asked.

“Yeah, what can she do?” Tony chimed in. “Can she fly? Read your mind? Set things on fire?”

You shook your head, “No, nothing like that. But she is powerful. She can control nature, like plants and stuff. She could make flowers grow in a few seconds or she could crack the earth open and sprout up a tree to make it attack you.”

Tony and Steve looked impressed.

“I can attest to that,” Bucky nodded. There was a fondness in his eyes and you could tell he was remembering that day a year ago when Ana had attacked him with a root.

“Okay, so your sister has a green thumb,” Tony said before pointing in your direction, “What can you do?”

Your eyes flitted to Bucky and then back to the Iron Man. You had thought he had filled his counterpart in beforehand, but apparently not.

On cue, you made electricity dance around your body. It went up and down your neck, arms, fingers. If anybody were to touch you it would hurt like a taser, but to you it was power. It didn’t hurt one bit.

Tony took a step back, startled by the sudden crackle of it. The corners of your lips lifted a bit in an indiscernible smile at the action.  When you were done showing off, he cleared his throat.

“So, you can fry people in an instant?”

“Like chicken in Kentucky.”

This seemed to unsettle him, it only added to your pleasure. Bucky, on the other hand, snorted at your comment.

“So, riddle me this, mini Thor,” Tony started. You shot him a glare at the sound of the nickname. “How did Hydra agents - with no powers whatsoever - manage to get away when not one, but two mutants were present?”

Both he and Steve looked at you expectantly. So is there where you had to spill everything?

Bucky took a deep breath. “Why don’t we go somewhere that doesn’t have bright fluorescent lighting and medical equipment?”

* * *

Just as Bucky had said, you were subject to an interrogation. They called it, “Giving us the whole story,” rather than an interrogation, but it still felt like one to you. Tony and Steve wanted to hear everything for themselves, so they sat you down in a big room with tall glass windows and a large table. You could tell that it was probably used for meetings.

It went on for an hour and a half, but to you it felt like days. Bucky stuck to his promise and helped out with some of the explaining, especially when it came to how it was that the two of you met, but for the most part it was up to you.

You gave them every detail that they needed and answered any question that they had. You weren’t the best at these things, but if it was going to help them figure out where your sister was, then so be it. You had to endure the discomfort you felt over feeling scrutinized.

What surprised you was the fact that they knew near to nothing about Sentinel Services. You couldn’t help but wonder how a group of superheroes dedicated to protecting it’s people knew nothing about a group of overpowered shits who basically terrorized you. You had to explain the loathsome group to them and Steve looked very visibly unpleased with the whole thing.

“And they’re allowed to hunt you down like that?” he asked.

You shrugged, “The authorities do shit like that all the time, and since the people are scared of us, they don’t do anything about it.”

“And it’s legal?”

Your eyes went to Tony and his brows furrowed. “Very.”

It was his turn to speak, “How?”

You sighed at his lack of understanding. So he really didn’t know?

“The Sokovia Accords,” you said plainly.

Tony looked taken aback. “The Accords were for superheroes, not mutants.”

You rolled your eyes, “They don’t care. They see a person with powers and they shove us all into the same group. Not to mention that being born with abilities is seen as worse than being injected by a serum or having a suit made of metal. It’s like we’re some kind of abomination.”

“Since we weren’t registered, it gave the police an excuse to arrest us. Or at least that’s how it started out. When they realized no one was doing anything to protect us, they started doing whatever they wanted.”

Sometimes you wondered how you got such a shitty hand in life. Female, Mexican, and a mutant all in one. A triple minority, or a triple threat - and not in a good way. If you took one away, you’d still be dealing with the problems of the other two. The system was against you no matter what.

Steve and Tony both eyed each other, there was something exchanged between them without words, and you had an idea what it was about. They had a whole feud over this didn’t they? It disassembled the Avengers for a year because of it.

When he looked back in your direction, you swore you saw pain and guilt in his eyes. A frown tugged at your lips. Maybe he really didn’t know what he had done by agreeing to the accords.

And it’s because of that stupid decision that your life was the way it was.

You straightened up and wiped the frown off your face.

Impatience was settling into you. Every second that passed was just another second that Ana was missing, another second that she could be in pain.

Bucky seemed to notice your state, because the next thing you knew, he was stopping everything.

“Alright, that’s enough. I think we got everything that we need.”

He stood up from his seat that was directly across from you. You followed suit, your hand resting on the jar of shells that was on the edge of the table.

“What are we gonna do now?” you asked, happy to get on with things.

“We are gonna go search the database for anything that can help us,” Steve answered with a reassuring smile.

Your chest flared with excitement, until Bucky pointed at you and said, “And you are gonna get some rest, you need it.”

You craned your head back in confusion and scoffed, “Rest? I don’t need rest, I’m fine.”

Bucky’s blue eyes locked with yours and he fixed you with a stern look. You gave him your own fiery, stubborn gaze. He might have looked scary to others, but not to you.

“Y/N, you’ve been through hell these past 24 hours. You got injured, you’re lucky you don’t have a concussion. You. Need. To. Rest.” he said.

You were exhausted, yes, mentally and physically. If you were honest, you felt like you had been hit by a damn semi truck or run over by a steam roller, but that still didn’t stop you from wanting to get out there and do something. You could get past the need to sleep for as long as you needed to.

“Yeah, and I’ll continue to live in hell the longer that they have her. Especially if I just sit around and do nothing,” you argued.

The anger in you started to swirl and the lights in the room flickered. All three men looked up at the ceiling warily.

Tony gave you a warning look, “Alright, cool it, Sparky. We don’t need you tearing this place apart.”

“Well you better get used to the idea because I’m getting real fucking impatient,” you growled, and electricity crackled in your hands like a threat.

“Look, I know you’re upset right now, but it’s not going to get you anywhere,” Bucky was unamused.

You shot him a glare, “I can’t help being upset, pendejo. I’ve been sitting around telling you guys everything that I know and doing what you guys told me to do, and I’m over it. I can’t just sit on the sidelines.”

“It’s just for now, kid. Let the big guys with experience handle this,” Tony tried to sound calm.

“I’m just as strong as any ‘big guy’ you have, Stark,” you retorted.

“Remind me to introduce you to the hulk.”

You rolled your eyes and turned your attention back to Bucky, still stubborn.

“I want to help,” you tried saying a little more calmly.

“You already did, with your story,” Bucky responded.

You looked between the two soldiers, who were oddly calm. It irritated you, made you incredulous. Don’t they understand?

“That’s not enough. There’s gotta be something else that I can do. I can’t - I can’t -”

Your body was buzzing again. You were feeling so many things, so many emotions that you had been bottling up for hours and hours. Anger, fear, sadness. You reached for the one that was easiest to process. Anger.

“Y/N…” Bucky sighed in exasperation.

“Don’t you fucking dare tell me to calm down, Barnes,” you seethed. Electricity crackled in your hands like a threat. “You just told me that Hydra has my sister. HYDRA. If things weren’t already bad before, they’re pretty fucking terrible now!”

You continued, “The both of you should know! You both know Hydra better than anyone! How are you so fucking calm?!”

“Because we’ve learned that these things take time and planning,” Steve tried to make you see reason.

“Time that I don’t want to waste.”

The rage only got worse and worse, and if it wasn’t visible on your face, then it was visible in the electricity that was balling up in your hands. You had to kill them, you had to kill Hydra for even daring to lay a hand on Ana. You had to make them pay for taking her away from you.

You had to get out of that room. It was driving you crazy. You needed fresh air, you needed to calm down, so you took the only logical next step.

You sighed, “I need to get out of here,” and then started heading towards the door.

“Y/N!” Bucky called out.

“Hold on,” Steve’s voice came from behind you. However, you didn’t expect him to grab you by the arm and pull you back.

It might have been a gentle tug, but you still reacted by instinct. You flinched and a ball of electricity that was still swirling in you hand, was released, and it went straight at Steve’s stomach. He grunted and fell backwards into the table. Your hand flew to your mouth in shock of your own action.

“Steve!” Bucky said.

“Jesus Christ,” Tony followed, and walked around to meet the other two on your side of the table.

“I didn’t mean to - ,” you gasped.

“It’s okay. I’m fine,” Steve wheezed as he clutched his stomach.

There didn’t seem to be any extreme damage. Whatever was in that serum they gave him did him well, but he wasn’t exactly okay.

Shit, shit, shit. I just attacked Captain America.

Suddenly there was the sound of something rolling, followed by silence, and then glass breaking. For a second you thought that you had broken one of the lights overhead, but there were no sparks and no glass came raining down. You looked around for the source of the sound and your heart dropped when your eyes landed on the mess that was on the floor by where you were sitting. The glass jar full of seashells had fallen off the table and were now a scattered mess on the floor.

“No,” you whispered.

You practically ran to it. The electricity left you in an instant as you sank down to your knees, trying to pick up the remaining pieces. You could already tell that some of them had been broken in half and some even beyond repair due to their fragileness. Your vision blurred once again with the surge of tears, but at this point you didn’t care. You were broken as broken as the jar and it’s contents, and there was no point in hiding it.

“No, no, no,” you cried.

Having already attended to his friend, Bucky went to your side. All of your anger had dissipated and you had no urge to fight him or anyone else off anymore.

“Hey…” his voice was soothing and calm.

“I didn’t mean to do that, I didn’t mean to hurt him, I didn’t mean to break them. FUCK.”

The words tumbled out in between sobs and sniffling. You put your head in your hands and groaned. It wasn’t that you didn’t have your powers in control, it was your emotions that got the best of you. Rather, it was you inability to express them.

“Y/N,” Bucky called out to you softly. It was the first time he had said your name in a tone that wasn’t scolding or sarcastic, which is why you lifted your head up to look at him.

His usually piercing and cold blue eyes were now soft. You had seen a peek of that gaze back when he had first helped you. It was a look that wasn’t full of pity, but of understanding. Like he knew what you were feeling or even if he didn’t, he wasn’t going to judge you.

He held out his hand, which was full of shells and sand dollars. You took the pile from him and looked down at them for a second.

“They’re all I have of her,” you whispered.

They were the only constant thing the two of you had in the crazy whirlwind that was your lives. They were all you had of her.

You looked back at Bucky, tears raining down your face. With clearer voice you said, “She’s all I have.”

Bucky furrowed his brow before nodding in understanding. His eyes flitted behind you, no doubt to Tony or Steve. You had long since forgotten about them. Bucky put a hand on your shoulder and you let him.

“You’ll get her back, Y/N. _We'll_ get her back. Just give us time. We’re not trying to push you aside, you’re just not in a good headspace right now.”

You hummed, “Clearly.”

“When we find something, we’ll tell you as soon as possible. Just…work with us goddamn it.”

You nodded, resigned. “Okay.”

“We will find her, I promise you that,” he said with more determination, “I’ll do everything to make sure of that. Even if I have to do it myself.”

You didn’t need to read his mind to know that he was telling the truth. Maybe it was the look in his eyes or the fact that he had already done so much for you. For a fact you knew that Bucky was a man of his word. You don’t know why, but despite you knowing him a grand total of two days, you still felt like you could trust him. And trust wasn’t something that you handed out to just anyone.

“Thank you, Bucky,” you whispered.

Another thing you didn’t just throw around.

He nodded, but then said, “Thank me when she’s safe.”


	5. Ungodly Hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although reluctant, you do as you're told and sleep. However, it's cut short when you wake up at four in the morning after a nightmare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: there's mild violence and a gun, but only for a little bit. Afterwards it's all sarcasm and banter.

_You were in a deep, dark void. The air was cold, as if all the warmth had been sucked right out by a vacuum.  The air was stale, with a faint smell of copper, like blood.  Goosebumps riddled your skin and you hugged yourself to keep them at bay as you stood in the middle of this dark room._

_Suddenly, a familiar voice cried out._

_“Y/N!”_

_Your heart began to race. Ana._

_Your feet started moving automatically and you were running, barefoot into the nothingness, searching every corner._

_“Ana!” you called out._

_“Y/N!”_

_“Ana!” you said it even louder._

_“Y/N.”_

_The voice was right behind you that time and it was calmer, much cooler. You stopped dead and whirled around to face the source. Just as you had hoped, a few feet in front of you was your little sister, but she wasn’t alone._

_She was tied up in a chair, her clothes tattered, her hair an unruly tangle, and her cheeks tear stained. Towering over her was the large man with tattoos that has attacked you on the street. Your face ached at the thought of his boot connecting with your face. He had a malevolent smile on his lips and an equally terrifying gaze. Fury overcame you and you lunged._

_“Get away from her!” you roared, but were stopped short when you were met with an invisible barrier and you stumbled backward._

_The man laughed, and you continued to throw yourself at the wall. You punched and kicked and screamed at it, only to have it be of no use. You even tried using your electricity, but nothing came. A scream of frustration ripped from your throat and echoed around you._

_“It’s not use,” Ana spoke._

_You turned to her, tears running down your cheeks. You leaned your face as close to the barrier as you could._

_“I’m gonna find you. I will, I promise.”_

_She smiled for a second only to have her face fall into a frown. She shook your head, “No, you won’t.”_

_Your blood turned to ice at the sound of her monotone voice. “What?”_

_“You won’t. And even if you did, who says I’ll go back to you?”_

_“Ana, what are you talking about?” your voice was hoarse and broken_

_There was something in her green eyes that didn’t look right. They weren’t as vibrant as you remembered them, but more dull._

_“Your friends didn’t want you, Tio didn’t want you, mom and dad didn’t want you…what makes you think I will?”_

_You felt nauseous._

_“Stop,” you said._

_“It’s your fault I got taken. You should have been there. You should have protected me. You should have used your powers.”_

_“I COULDN’T, I TRIED,” you sobbed._

_“Did you? Did you really try everything?”_

_“I am doing everything! I’m with people that can save you! Bucky. You remember him. Bucky can help.”_

_“But how do you know it’s not too late?”_

_You stared at her in shock. This wasn’t her, this wasn’t Ana. Ana didn’t look and sound so robotic, so malicious and evil. She wouldn’t say things like this that would hurt you. This wasn’t real._

_And yet, the next few seconds felt real._

_The man with the tattoos took a gun out from his back pocket and put the barrel at her temple._

_You barely screamed out the word, “NO!” when the gun was fired and Ana’s body went limp._

* * *

You woke up gasping for air.  The beat of your heart was at a racing speed and you could feel a sheen of sweat coating your chest. The room was dark and for a second you thought you were still there, still in that dark room and you nearly broke down at the thought of it.

You reached your hand out for anything, anything that was real. The headboard of the bed, the nightstand, and then a lamp. You fumbled for the switch, and when you found it you turned it on immediately. Warm yellow light illuminated your surroundings in an instant. At the sight of an actual room with furniture, you heaved a sigh of relief, and pressed your back against the headboard before hugging your knees to your chest.

_It wasn’t real, it wasn’t real. That wasn’t Ana. She’s not dead._

But she wasn’t safe either.

You groaned aloud, remembering everything that had happened. What you just saw might have just been a nightmare, but the rest was very real. Your sister was taken by Hydra and in order to get her back you seeked the aid of Bucky and his team, the Avengers.

There were other details too. The quinjet, the interrogation, and then you accidentally hurting Steve which caused the jar of shells to break. You had a full on meltdown, a long awaited one, perhaps. They were still nice enough to give you your own room, which was surprising. You were sure they were going to throw you in a cell after the stunt you pulled.

You let your eyes wander around the room.

It was about the size of a hotel room, with a bathroom, desk, closet, and other amenities. Of course, it was way nicer and more high tech than any hotel room you had ever stayed in. Although, the blue walls were barren of any personal items or decorations. Tony probably left it up to the Avengers to express their individualities.

You wondered how the others managed to personalize their rooms or how you would if you were to do so. You couldn’t remember the last time you had a room of your own. Even when you lived in a normal home, you usually shared a room or even the bed.

But, no, you didn’t plan on staying here for long. You were just here for Ana and then you were out of here. No need to personalize anything.

You felt surprisingly calmer now, much more clear headed. You were still shaken up from the nightmare, but you felt better compared to how you felt yesterday.

There was always talk of crying making things better, and you guessed they weren’t wrong. You done a lot of that in the past 24 hours. Not to mention the cold shower, fresh set of clothes, and the few hours of sleep you managed to get before it turned bad really helped.

You sighed. Bucky was right. You did need some sleep. And the urge to tear things apart was gone…for now.

You looked down at the nightstand where a sleek digital clock sat. On the face, the time flashed 4:15AM. You groaned again.  _What the hell? It’s so fucking early._

 _Porque chingados estoy despierta tan temprano?_  (Why the fuck am I awake so early?)

This was an ungodly time.

Part of you felt like you should go back to sleep, but the mere thought of going back to that dark place with the scary version of Ana made you sick to your stomach. You didn’t want to risk having that dream again. Real life was enough to deal with already.

No, you couldn’t go back to sleep. Besides, you felt pretty well rested considering the time. There had to be something for you to do in this god forsaken compound, right? It wouldn’t hurt to explore. Maybe you’d find Bucky, Steve, or Tony and you could badger them about any new info.

You nodded to yourself.  _Sounds like a plan._

With one swift motion, you threw the covers off of your legs and swung them over the edge of the bed. You wiggled your bare toes as they touched the cool surface of the wooden floor before sliding your feet into some white slippers they had given you.

Over the desk chair were your old clothes that you had thrown over before falling asleep. You grabbed the jade green jacket you were fond of and put it on. You had snagged it in Arizona and fell in love with it. Luckily it was pretty intact considering everything.

* * *

You felt weird. You couldn’t help this feeling of being followed and like you were supposed to be running from something or someone. You weren’t used to staying in one place for too long. After years of running, it was something that was ingrained in you at this point. You had to be on high alert and aware of your actions, but not this time. No, you were safe.

Safe. Was that even possible?

Safe in the confines of the compound that was supposedly hidden away from everyone else. Sentinel Services couldn’t get you here. They wouldn’t be around the corner, ready to ship you off to the raft. Yet you still felt like they were.

It was like when you went on summer break after the end of a hard semester at school and you felt like you had something to work on, something due. Except this version was a lot more dark and fucked up.

You let the halls of the compound take your mind away from that as you walked through them. The motion sensored lights illuminated you way.  It was dead quiet and for the most part, everyone else seemed to be asleep. On this floor anyway. You weren’t even sure how many floors there were or where anything was. You would think they’d have some kind of directory.

Based on the similarity of the doors and the way they were spaced out, you could tell this was the residency floor. After walking past all of the rooms, you came to a large space that you could only assume was the living area. There was a large kitchen with bar stools that surrounded a marble island, a dining table, and a living room with a huge wide screen tv. Everything was aptly decorated with creams colors, reds, and wood tones.

At the moment it was completely empty, but you could help but wonder if they actually had the time to sit around and hang out here. Weren’t they supposed to be superheroes? Did superheroes get days off?

Of course they did, they were still people at the end of the day.

In your spot, you made a full 360 degree turn. You weren’t really sure where to go from here. For all you knew, the compound could be enormous, and you’d get lost in no time.

_Why the fuck wasn’t there a map?_

Suddenly you remembered something Tony had said to you before you went off to your room.

_“If you need anything, feel free to ask FRIDAY.”_

At first you thought “Friday” was a person or a butler of some sorts, but apparently she (he? They? it?) was an A.I. that was connected to the whole building and the electronics. You weren’t sure whether to think it was creepy or not. You had seen enough robot movies to know it never turned out well, so up until this point you had refrained from asking it anything.

But, if it really was connected to everything, surely it would be able to help

“Hello?” you spoke up into the ceiling, “FRIDAY?”

You half expected to get nothing back in response, but pleasantly surprised by the female voice that spoke through the speakers of the room.

“Good morning, Miss Y/L/N.” Her voice was friendly and you couldn’t help but notice the welsh accent.

“How do you know my name?”

She seemed to chuckle and you wondered how it was possible.

“It’s my job to know as much as I can about the people in this compound. But also, Tony took the liberty of telling me your name and to keep a close eye on you in case you needed anything.”

You huffed, “He told you to babysit me?”

“Not exactly. I’d call it, ‘providing a helping hand’. Based on what you’re going through, you seem to need it.”

“And you would know? Being a robot and all?”

“Contrary to popular belief, I am not, in fact, a robot,” she seemed a little offended and it made you smirk, “I’ve been programed to read and understand real life situations. I might not be human, but I do understand what happens in everyone else’s lives, including yours.”

“Huh,” was all you responded. You could ask her a million other questions, but you really didn’t want to argue with an A.I.

It - or she was rather life like, unlike any of those other automated voices on phones and electronic devices like Siri or Alexa. You felt like you could hold a real conversation with her, which was unusual. You were still on the fence about whether or not it freaked you out or excited you.

After a moment of silence, she spoke again. “So, is there anything I can help you with, Miss Y/L/N?”

You cringed at the use of a formal name.

“For starters, don’t call me that. Call me, Y/N.”

“Okay. Well, is there anything you need, Y/N?”

Oh, yeah. You straightened up and looked up at the nothingness as if you could see FRIDAY there. “You don’t happen to know if they’ve found anything, do you? Any leads on where my sister was taken?”

“From what I know, they started searching the database last night, but didn’t find anything yet.”

You groaned in annoyance. Wasn’t Tony supposed to have access to technology that went beyond most people?

“And I’m guessing they’re all asleep right now?” you asked.

“Actually, no.”

You tilted your head to the side, surprised.

“Someone else is awake right now?”

“A few someones, as a matter of fact.”

You straightened up with intrigue. Maybe you wouldn’t have to wander the halls mindlessly by yourself for too long after all. Who could possibly be awake at this hour?

Actually, you had an idea of who that could be.

“Bucky doesn’t happen to be one of those few, does he?” you asked hopefully.

“Mr. Barnes is almost always awake at this time. Not that it’s any of my business, but I’m surprised he stays awake throughout the day on the little sleep he gets.”

You were right, he was awake. Good.

“Then again, I’d say the same about a few others as well,” FRIDAY finished.

Without wasting another second, you spoke into the watch face once more.

“Can you tell me where he is?”

* * *

He was on the top floor, apparently getting a work out in at the training room (according to FRIDAY).

What kind of a heathen works out at four in the fucking morning? The Winter Soldier apparently. Que desgracia.

You didn’t need FRIDAY to tell you which door to go through, because you could already tell by the loud music that was blaring through the walls. The Welsh A.I. had warned you about interrupting Bucky’s time alone.

“I must warn you, Mr. Barnes can get irritable. He only ever lets Mr. Rogers in-””

“Unless he happens to be masterbating, I really don’t give a shit,” you had said.

You weren’t scared of him. Were the others scared of him? Maybe they were intimidated by the fact that he was a 6-foot, ex-assassin with a metal arm, but for some reason you couldn’t find it in yourself to care about any of that. You had enough anger and power in your body to measure up to him if need be. But you knew you wouldn’t.

You approached the double doors of the training room and peered into the square windows in them. You searched until your eyes landed on the large brunette in the middle of the room, who was doing push ups on the black mat. With a push, you opened the doors and stepped inside.

The music was comparably louder without the doors or walls containing it. It was an intense beat, surely picked on purpose to fit his workout.

You crossed your arms and watched him as you took a place by the bench. You watched him for a bit, wondering if he would notice. He was facing the other direction, so you assumed he wouldn’t, but somehow, he must have sensed you.

“Get out,” he ordered.

You furrowed your brow and widen your stance.

“No.”

“I said ‘get out’,” he growled.

Having assumed that you were probably somebody else, he still didn’t bother to get up and looked at you. In annoyance, you snatched his phone up from the bench.

“And I said, ‘no’,” you said before pressing the pause button on “I’m So Sorry” by Imagine Dragons.

That got him pissed. He heaved an exasperated sigh and pushed himself off the ground.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I swear I’m gonna-” he started to say as he whirled around to face you, a threatening expression on his face. But the last letter died on his lips when he saw who you were. He was visibly surprised to see you here, and his face seemed to soften at the sight of you, but not completely. He was still clearly annoyed.

You smirked, waving his phone in your hand. “I hope you weren’t gonna say ‘kill you’ because that would have been lazy.”

He rolled his eyes through panting breaths. “If you were anyone else, I would’ve said ‘break your kneecaps’.”

“‘Anyone else’? You’re not afraid to threaten me are you, Buck?”

He snorted, “You’re probably one of the last people I’m scared of, Y/N.”

You doubted it.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“Clearly, considering you just touched my music without asking,” he said before walking over to you and snatching the device out of your hand.

You rolled your eyes. “Had to get your attention somehow.”

“A simple ‘hello’ would have sufficed,” he said with an unamused expression.

“Don’t get your panties in a wad.”

You looked over and watched him as he sat down on the bench and dried himself off with a towel. Before saying anything else, he took a large gulp of water from his bottle. As he did so, you found your eyes trailing over him.

For the first time since knowing Bucky, you were seeing him for the male specimen he clearly was. Not that you didn’t already know. Maybe it’s because you currently weren’t being chased by sentinels or halfway through a breakdown, but either way, you found yourself fighting harder than usual to keep a neutral face.

He was wearing a black tank top that displayed any and all upper body muscles, especially his vibranium arm. On his lower half were sweatpants that clung to his hips, and you caught a glimpse of the the ‘v’ shape of his hip bones.

He looked damn good with the way the muscles beneath his skin bulged and rippled in his arms, back, and chest. The sweat glistening off of them didn’t make matters any better.

If you were to be completely honest, in another life, if you saw Bucky Barnes at a bar, you would have gladly jumped his bones in a heartbeat. It nearly pissed you off how attractive he was.

_Por dios, Y/N, now is not the fucking time to get distracted._

“What are you doing here, doll?” he asked finally, providing a distraction from your own distracting thoughts. “I thought I told you to rest.”

“Numerous times, yes.”

“Then what are you doing up so early?”

You snorted, “I could ask you the same thing. Who in their right mind works out this early in the morning?”

He chuckled, “Do I seem like someone who’s in their right mind?”

“I don’t know. I’m not exactly an expert in that field either,” you got tired of standing up, so you sat down on the bench next to Bucky, who laughed breathily.

There was a foot between the two of you, but you could still feel the heat radiating from him. He was like a furnace. The plates in his metal arm shifted and you watched in curiosity as they did.

While keeping your eyes on the gold inlay of the metal, you admitted, “I had a nightmare. Going back to sleep was the last thing I wanted to do.”

He seemed to go still for a second before asking, “Was it about Ana?”

You nodded while keeping your teeth clenched to keep any physical, emotional response from happening as you remembered what she said, and then the gun blowing her brains out.

“Hey,” he said in a soft voice, “Look at me.”

Without hesitating, you did as he said. His steel blue eyes were intense, but not in an intimidating “I can kill you” kind of way. They were intense in the fact that they seemed to hold so much in them. Did your eyes look like that? Or were they different? Could Bucky see it and tell you if you asked him to? Could he see the pain and struggle in your eyes just as you could see his?

“It wasn’t real, okay?”

You swore your jaw would break from how hard you were holding it shut. You knew it wasn’t real, but hearing it from someone else was something different entirely. He was confirming it for you and for some reason that made you emotional.

You could not afford to break down again.

All you could do was nod and say, “I know. This isn’t the first time it happens, but it doesn’t get any less shitty.”

You’ve had plenty of nightmares over the past few years, so it was nothing new, but it didn’t make it any easier. Most of them were rooted in fear, whether it was of other people or of yourself. They’ve evolved as your life changed.

You just never talked about it before, not really. Not even Ana knew the extent of them.

“Oh, I know,” Bucky nodded, “I know that feeling all too well.”

His gaze became dark and filled with pain. Whatever he was remembering, must be pretty bad. You knew about his past, so you could only imagine was nightmares keep him up at night. Yours were probably nothing compared to his.

Suddenly you understood his need to have some alone time this early in the morning. The physical activity must help to get his mind off things. It’s probably why you felt the urge to get out of your room and walk around.

You moved on from the topic.

“How’s Steve?” you asked, remembering the massive ball of electricity you accidentally shot into his stomach.

“He’s fine,” he said without an ounce of worry, which made you feel better, “That punk’s always been able to take a hit, ever since we were kids. I think the serum just amplified that. So, you’ve got nothing to worry about”

“Good, I wouldn’t want to get locked up for hurting the face of World War 2.”

He laughed and you joined in. When it died down and you both fell to silence, Bucky looked at you in seriousness once again.

“What about you? How are you holding up?” he asked, leaning his body a little closer to you.

You sighed. The weight of Ana’s absence was heavy, and although she wasn’t dead, it still hurt. This is the longest you’ve gone without seeing her. Up until two days ago, you had been inseparable. You were responsible for her, you loved her and took care of her. And in some ways, she took care of you too. She might only be 15, but she was so mature for her age, and she kept you in check whenever you needed. But now she was god knows where and you felt like a cord was disconnected and you were untethered, lost in space.

But you had to be strong. You had to stay strong for her if you were going to get her back safely.

“I’m holding up as best as I can. Like I always do,” you managed to say without wavering.

Still, he furrowed his brow, like he didn’t approve of the walls you put around yourself.

You straightened up and twisted your body towards him.

“FRIDAY told me that you haven’t found anything yet.”

“FRIDAY told you that? You’re friends with the A.I. now?” he smirked.

“She was the only one around to give me anything at four in the morning,” you said defensively.

“Well, she’s right. We looked through the database, but didn’t find anything, so Steve called it a night,” at the look on your expression, he raised his hands to stop you from saying a anything, “but we are getting back to it as soon as possible.”

“And you’ll finally be letting me join, I hope?” you crossed your arms.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his brown locks. “Yes, Y/N. You finally can.”

“Good,” you said before standing up from the bench, “At least that saves me a plan to sneak in.”

He gave you a weird look of disbelief.

“When are you going to realize that we’re  _all_  on your side, Y/N? Not just me?”

“When you give me results, Barnes,” you said as if it were obvious.

He sat there for a second as you waited expectantly, before shaking his head and pushing himself off the bench. “Alright. Let’s get to work then.”


End file.
